Balloon Company Owner Clayton Hochhalter, 48

Clayton D. Hochhalter, 48, a former professional singer of opera and the baroque, owned the American Balloon Co., which decorates places and events with balloons and balloon sculptures.

A resident of the Edgewater neighborhood, he died Saturday in Edgewater Medical Center of complications from AIDS.

"He was a very genuine, fun-loving person who cared about the people around him," said Joseph Poprawski, who worked with him. "Clay was an intelligent, artistic and creative person."

After coming to Chicago in 1971, he sang solo and chorus for the Chicago Opera Theater, Music of the Baroque, Chicago Chamber Opera, the Light Opera Works and other performing groups.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he worked for the Sergeant Yukon Singing Telegram Co. The firm delivered singing telegrams and offered balloon displays and sculptures. He bought its balloon business and established it as American Balloon Co.

He and his company have created sculptures made of large balloons. They have included an airplane with a 15-foot wingspan that hung in the James R. Thompson Center, large dinosaurs with babies and one of Mother Goose reading to small animals. The firm also has set up baloon displays for conventions.

Survivors include his parents, Herbert and Gwendolyn; a brother; two sisters; and his life partner, Brendan Nugent.

A memorial mass for Mr. Hochhalter will be said at 7 p.m. Thursday in St. Peters Episcopal Church, 621 W. Belmont Ave.